Transitioning to life as a Division I college athlete can be difficult for a freshman, particularly when it comes to Big Ten volleyball.
So far, Madison Smeathers is handling it just fine.
The former Center Grove star has gotten acclimated to the big time rather nicely in her freshman season, cracking the starting lineup as a middle blocker for Ohio State, who heads into this weekend ranked 23rd in the nation.
Smeathers ranks third on the Buckeyes in blocks (39) and hitting percentage (.286) and fifth on the team in kills (97). She has started 19 of the 20 matches she has appeared in.
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OSU coach Geoff Carlston said that Smeathers keeps a fairly even keel on the court. That quality can be hard to find in any player, especially a freshman.
"I knew from the beginning that her personality would allow her to make the transition pretty easily," Carlston said.
Perhaps the hardest thing for Smeathers to adjust to has been the level of competition. The 6-foot-3 middle blocker obviously came in with a wealth of high school and club experience, but the Big Ten — with seven teams ranked in this week’s American Volleyball Coaches Association top 25 and three others receiving votes — is a very different world.
"Everyone here is good," Smeathers said, "so every day, whether it’s in practice or in a match, you’re playing against the best people in the country. So going in, not being the best player, top player on the team anymore, you just have to go in and really put extra work in."
Smeathers has been able to put enough work in to keep herself in the lineup during her debut season, but she’s got bigger goals in mind. At Center Grove, she stayed on the court at all times, but this year, she’s been almost exclusively a front-row player.
That’s something that Smeathers would like to change in the future, and Carlston doesn’t seem to be ruling anything out.
"She certainly has the ability and the talent to be able to play all the way around," the coach stated. "That’s not something that we need from her this season, but certainly in the future, that’s not something that would be out of the question."
With four seniors on the Ohio State roster, including the team’s top front-row performer, Taylor Sandbothe, there should be opportunities for Smeathers to expand her role in the years to come.
It’ll take some work — very few players that tall get used on the back row regularly — but Smeathers is ready to make herself the exception to the rule.
"I kind of like the challenge of it, beating people out, or being the underdog and proving myself," she said. "I really like that. I like to prove people wrong, and I like to come in and turn some heads."
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How Madison Smeathers has fared thus far during her freshman season at Ohio State:
Matches/starts: 20/19
Kills: 97
Hitting percentage: .286
Blocks: 39
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